A bus driver has been fired after a Melbourne schoolboy became trapped in the doors of a public bus and was dragged down the road for several hundred metres.

The 12-year-old was on his way to school in Wheelers Hill in the city's south-east about 8am on March 16 when his bag appeared to become caught in the automatic bus doors.

Phone camera footage, released today by the boy's mother, shows the schoolboy being carried down the road, as he lifted his knees to avoid being scraped along the bitumen.

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A spokesperson for Ventura Bus Lines said the bus driver involved had been terminated.

"This is a very distressing incident, and we will continue to support the passenger and family at this time," a spokesperson said.

"The safety of our passengers is our priority. We have emphasised our safety protocols with all drivers and will implement a review to enhance driver training programs.

"Following a full investigation into this incident, and internal disciplinary procedures, the driver's employment has been terminated."

The boy's mother Grace shared the confronting footage on Instagram and said another school mum saw her son hanging off the bus and honked to warn the driver.

It is understood the boy was dragged for about 350 metres down Brandon Park Drive before the bus driver noticed.

"It still gives me anxiety every time I see the footage, it's just horrible," Grace told Today.

"When the bus took off he knew that he couldn't keep running at its side so he just had to lift his legs off the ground.

"And honestly, if he was a taller student, or a weaker student, there is no way he would be able to hang on to the side of a moving bus, at that speed, for that distance."

Grace earlier told 3AW that her son, who had just started year seven this year, was mostly uninjured.

He was left with some bruising on his shoulder from the strap of his schoolbag.

"We're very, very thankful that he is physically unhurt," she said.

"I don't know how it happened.

"He could have died… he could have clipped the side [of the] cars."

Grace said her son is now "traumatised" and does not like to catch the bus to school alone.

"[He] is still seeing a psychologist, but he can't travel on the bus alone anymore and he gets panic attacks when he sees a bus on the road," she told Today.

Grace called for safety improvements to ensure a similar incident does not occur.

"The bus door only has one sensor in the middle of the door and Nathaniel was caught under that sensor, so it didn't set off any alarms for the driver," she said.

"However, the door wasn't fully closed, his arm was caught in it, you would think there would be another safety feature on the bus to alert the driver of that."

"Ventura [the bus operator] are not being accountable, the responses I have received from them so far have been very dismissive and just very disappointing.

"We need our children to be safe. This should not have happened to [my son] or anybody else, it's just horrible."

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Victoria Police said it is aware of the incident but that it was not reported to police.

Police are now making enquiries.

A Victorian government spokesperson said it was "disturbing vision".

"We expect our bus operators to uphold the highest safety standards for passengers," the spokesperson said.

"Following an investigation by Ventura, which included reviewing CCTV and speaking with the impacted family, the driver no longer works at Ventura.

"The Department of Transport and Planning is continuing an investigation to ensure safety processes are adhered to by the bus operator."

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A pedestrian killed by an out-of-control car outside a Melbourne comic convention has been remembered as a "kind and compassionate young man" who was looking forward to an overseas trip with his best friends later this year.

Volkan Aksoy, 20, was killed when a Toyota Echo swerved across Langs Road in Ascot Vale and mounted a kerb outside the Melbourne Showgrounds about 5pm on Saturday.

Aksoy, who had spent most of the day with his friends at the Supanova Comic Con and Gaming event, died at the scene.

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His best friend, also 20, suffered a cracked skull and fractured leg and was taken to hospital in a serious but stable condition.

Another friend has been discharged after he was taken to hospital for shock.

Aksoy's heartbroken mother described her son as "a kind and compassionate young man who cherished time with his friends and family, whom he loved deeply".

"He had a beautiful spirit, he was very much loved and will be profoundly missed by all who knew him," she told 9News.

The family is struggling to come to terms with the tragedy, his mother said.

"His life was taken far too soon – there's no other way to describe it."

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Aksoy's colleagues at the Keysborough fast-food restaurant where he worked for several years remembered the young man as a "well-mannered, easy-going, social gentleman".

"He had big dreams, he was very intellectual, that's what I'm going to miss the most about him," friend and coworker Hasha Kong said.

"I remembered he was so excited to go to Japan at the end of the year with his high school best friends, until this happened.

"But I am so grateful to have met him. I believe that anyone would love to have a person just like Volkan in their life."

Police allege the Werribee man who was allegedly behind the wheel was on bail at the time and was unlicensed.

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Amer Dau, 33, fronted court today charged with dangerous driving causing death, culpable driving and committing an indictable offence whilst on bail.

He made no further application for bail and will remain behind bars until his next court appearance in September.

Investigations remain ongoing as to whether it was a deliberate act, but detectives have ruled out terrorism.

Further charges could be laid, police said.

He'll face court again in September.

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A powerful earthquake has struck off the northern Japanese coast, and the Japan Meteorological Agency has issued a tsunami alert in the region.

The quake registering a preliminary magnitude of 7.4 occurred off the coast of Sanriku in northern Japan about 4.53pm (5.53pm AEST), at a depth of about 10 kilometres below the sea surface, the agency said.

Japan's NHK public television said a tsunami of up to 3 metres could hit the area shortly.

It's 15 years since a magnitude 9 earthquake and tsunami on March 11, 2011, ravaged parts of northern Japan, caused more than 22,000 deaths and forced nearly half a million people to flee their homes, most of them due to tsunami damage.

Some 160,000 people fled their homes in Fukushima because of the radiation spewed from the tsunami-hit Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. About 26,000 of them haven't returned because they resettled elsewhere, their hometowns remain off-limits or they have lingering concerns about radiation.

More to come

MetService says there’s a ‘threat to life’ from dangerous river conditions and flooding.

The theft by Jodie Wastney meant the under-13 team missed planned championships.

Australian actor Rebel Wilson took out defamation insurance before she posted a series of allegedly slanderous social media posts about the star of her directorial debut, a court has been told.

The Pitch Perfect star directed, co-produced and starred in The Deb, a musical comedy set in rural NSW which was only recently released due to various legal battles.

She is being sued by the lead actor, Charlotte MacInnes, over social media posts claiming she confided in her that she felt uncomfortable with co-producer Amanda Ghost.

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MacInnes has denied making the complaint to Wilson and said she has been seriously harmed by the older actor's suggestions she retracted the alleged comments in return for a lead role and a record deal.

"It it is a lie," her lawyer Sue Chrysanthou SC told the Federal Court today.  

"No such conversation occurred. That is a fabrication by Ms Wilson."

The social media posts are said to blame MacInnes for blocking the film's release with her lies and portray her as selfishly putting her own career ahead of the 300 cast and crew who worked on The Deb. 

But it was outrageous to suggest her client had anything to do with delaying the film's release when Wilson instigated and spread the bad publicity, Chrysanthou said. 

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Wilson took out defamation insurance with QBE after learning she would not be given writing credit for the film "so she could go ballistic on social media", she claimed. 

Instead of checking in on MacInnes as an alleged victim of inappropriate behaviour, Chrysanthou said the older actor made "grotesque" claims on her Instagram stories. 

"This is how this bully, apparently this saviour of women, the protector of the harassed, responds," she said.

But Wilson raised her concerns with others even though she had doubts about the veracity of the alleged complaint, her lawyer Dauid Sibtain SC said. 

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The central issue is not whether she was a victim but instead whether she complained to Wilson and then changed her story, he said.

"The reason she did so is obvious … to ensure her career as an actress and musician progressed by appeasing Ms Ghost," Sibtain told the court.

The lure of future opportunities, which have since materialised as a lead role in a stage production and a record deal with a prestigious label, was sufficient motive, he claimed. 

MacInnes says Wilson's social media posts damaged her professional reputation and created doubts about her trustworthiness before she could even enjoy the benefits of playing her first lead role in a film.

The up-and-coming actor is seeking aggravated damages for the serious harm caused as well as a court order preventing Wilson from repeating the claims.

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Yet Sibtain said her professional career has progressed since the social media posts were shared for 24 hours to Wilson's 11 million followers.

"She suffered no harm to her career at all," he told the court. The actors avoided eye contact as they sat near each other in court, with Wilson occasionally scoffing through proceedings. 

The Bridesmaids star praised the film as she entered the Federal Court today morning for the first day of the nine day hearing. 

"I love the movie. The Deb is so cute and amazing," she said. 

WATCH: Schoolboy becomes trapped in bus doors and dragged down road

The internationally acclaimed star wore a smile and neutral tones as she entered the courthouse after flying to Australia from the US over the weekend. 

She and her wife are expected to give evidence next week.

The Deb premiered in 2024 but had been blocked from wider distribution by legal disputes. 

The film was released in Australia on April 9, with some local reviews praising it as "joyous" and "filthy, fun, but most of all moving", while another said "many moments fall flat". 

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A pilot has died in a helicopter crash near Blackall in Queensland's central west.

Police say the chopper crashed around 9.30am just off Tumbar Road, not far outside the small outback town.

The 42-year-old male pilot, who was the sole occupant of the helicopter, was declared dead at the scene.

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The cause of the crash is not yet known but will be investigated by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau with assistance from police.

Workplace Health and Safety have been advised.

A report will be prepared for the coroner.

Luxon claims he was reacting to the Herald’s report on Friday.

A NSW man has been charged over an alleged drug importation plot after 200 kilograms of cocaine was unearthed aboard a catamaran sailing near the Queensland-NSW border.

The catamaran had sailed from the Tweed River on April 14, travelling north before turning its transponder off, police said.

Police will allege the vessel picked up the drugs at sea before sailing back towards the coast and turning its transponder back on as it returned to the Tweed River.

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It was intercepted by NSWPF Marine Area Command operatives on April 16 as it sailed into the Tweed River, just south of the Queensland border.

The catamaran was towed to a secure location, where it was searched and examined by specialist forensic officers.

Police will allege about 200kg of cocaine was hidden inside black duffel bags on board the catamaran along with $100,000 in cash.

Police discovered the stash as part of an investigation into an alleged international plot by a bikie syndicate to sail cocaine into Australian waters before using smaller vessels to bring the drugs to shore.

Australian Border Force Superintendent Jim Ley warned would-be criminals that border and law enforcement agencies were working together to protect the community.

"This amount of cocaine would have meant more addiction, more crime, and more violence in our communities.," Ley said.

"Our message to organised crime is clear: we are watching, we are working together, and we will stop anyone who tries to bring illicit drugs into Australia."

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The discovery triggered investigators to execute multiple search warrants across southeast Queensland and northern NSW. 

Police are not ruling out further arrests as they work to determine who else was involved in importing the drugs.

A Tweed Heads man, 41, was charged with one count of importing a commercial quantity of a border-controlled drug.

He was faced the NSW Bail Division Court on April 17, where he was formally refused bail and remanded to appear before the same court on June 12.

If found guilty, the man could face a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.

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A man fatally shot eight children, seven of them his own, across three Shreveport, Louisiana, homes early on Sunday (Monday morning AEDT), according to police.

It marks the nation's deadliest mass shooting since January 2024.

The children killed were three boys and five girls ranging in age from three to 11, the Caddo Parish Coroner's office told CNN.

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They included seven siblings and a cousin, the coroner's office said. Police said earlier the ages ranged from one to 14.

The coroner identified the victims as Jayla Elkins, three; Shayla Elkins, five; Kayla Pugh, six; Layla Pugh, seven; Markaydon Pugh, 10; Sariahh Snow, 11; Khedarrion Snow, six; and Braylon Snow, five.

Shreveport Police Cpl. Chris Bordelon identified the gunman as Shamar Elkins, and told CNN affiliate KSLA the shootings were "domestic in nature".

Elkins was 31, according to previous police reports.

A 13-year-old boy was injured after fleeing from a home and jumping from the roof, Bordelon told KSLA.

WATCH: Schoolboy becomes trapped in bus doors and dragged down road

He sustained a "few broken bones" but is expected to recover, he said.

Some children tried to escape out the back door during the shooting, said state Rep. Tammy Phelps during a news conference Sunday afternoon with other city officials.

Two adult women were also shot in Sunday's attack, Bordelon told KSLA.

Elkins' wife, the mother of his children, was shot first and had "very serious injuries".

Then Elkins went to a separate residence where he shot the eight children and another woman.

The other woman, who was the mother of the eighth child killed, has "life threatening injuries," he added.

Elkins was arrested in 2019 on a firearms case, according to a police report, after a man in a car pulled a gun on him.

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Elkins fired five rounds at the vehicle in retaliation while next to a school.

He also served in the Louisiana Army National Guard for seven years until August 2020, according to the US Army. He was not deployed.

The gunman was fatally shot by officers after carjacking a vehicle and leading police on a chase into the next parish, Bordelon said.

The Louisiana State Police are investigating the officer-involved shooting.

"It rattles the entire city," Shreveport Mayor Tom Arceneaux said. "It affects us all."

There have been at least 114 mass shootings in the United States so far this year, according to the Gun Violence Archive, which like CNN defines a mass shooting as one in which four or more people are shot, not including the shooter.

Shreveport, which is about 250 miles northwest of Baton Rouge, has about 180,000 residents.

More than 30 per cent of the murders in the city are domestic in nature, said city councilman Grayson Boucher.

A 'horrific scene'

Police responded to reports of shots fired in the Cedar Grove community of Shreveport just after 6am CT and found victims in two homes along West 79th Street and a third home on Harrison Street, Bordelon said.

"This is a very large scene with multiple deceased children present," Bordelon said.

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Arceneaux said the scene was "horrific."

The shootings mark the eighth through 15th homicides for Shreveport and Caddo Parish this year, according to the coroner's office.

A neighbour's security camera captured video showing the gunman fleeing toward a tire shop, according to The Associated Press.

"That's' pretty much all I saw, was him running out of the house," Liza Demming, who lives two doors down from one of the shooting locations, said.

Demming said she didn't know the shooter's name but that she had seen him with the children a few days before.

She said later went outside and saw the covered body of a child on the home's roof.

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Tragedy reaches 'far beyond'

City councilwoman Tabatha H. Taylor broke down in tears when speaking of the events late on Sunday.

"I'm going to ask the community, along with prayer, with every mental health consultant, counsellor, that is out here: This family and this community needs you," she said.

"I need you. Because how do we get through this?"

Arceneaux called it a "tragic situation" and said it was maybe the "worst" in Shreveport history.

"My heart is just taken aback. I just cannot begin to imagine how such an event can occur," Shreveport Police Chief Wayne Smith said.

"I just don't know what to say."

US House Speaker Mike Johnson, who represents the Shreveport area in Congress, called the killings "heartbreaking."

"We're holding the victims, their families and loved ones, and our Shreveport community close in our thoughts and prayers during this incredibly difficult time," Johnson said.

Superintendent Keith Burton of Shreveport's Caddo Parish Public Schools said the community "must take care of our children, support our families, and stand beside our educators and first responders who are carrying the weight of this moment."

Arceneaux said the tragedy reaches "far beyond the scene itself".

"These are the kinds of moments that leave a lasting imprint — on our hearts, on our minds, and on our sense of safety," the mayor said.

Support is available from the National Sexual Assault, Domestic and Family Violence Counselling Service at 1800RESPECT (1800 737 732)

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